It`s Gun Racks Vs. Vivaldi In Big Sky Country

MISSOULA, MONT. — Not so long ago, the kind of folks who sip mimosas to the strains of Vivaldi while chatting with Garrison Keillor didn`t constitute much of a political base in Montana.

Not, at least, compared to feisty conservatives more at home in a gun shop talking politics with men who wear cowboy hats and big belt buckles. It was the belt-buckle crowd, the kind of folks with gun racks in their pickup trucks, who made up the voting bloc that could win elections here.

But when U.S. Rep. Pat Williams, a Democrat trying to become the congressman with more constituents than any House member in history, introduced Keillor to supporters at a backyard fundraiser in Missoula, he wasn`t committing a political blunder.

And when U.S. Rep. Ron Marlenee, his Republican opponent, chatted with gun enthusiasts in Great Falls, he wasn`t winning all that many votes.

Like every place else, but perhaps more so, Montana is changing. There are fewer cowboys and more Vivaldi fans than there used to be, and that trend is likely to continue.

Whether it has gone far enough to elect Williams is unclear. Change of this magnitude often breeds resentment. Like voters everywhere, Montanans are in a resentful mood, and Marlenee is adept at exploiting that resentment.

Williams and Marlenee are squared off in one of the most interesting and unusual congressional races in decades. Because Montana hardly grew in the 1980s, it is losing one of its two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. So two veteran congressmen-a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican-are battling it out to see which one survives.

Though there are too few Montanans for two seats, there are an awful lot for only one. With just about 800,000 people, Montana will be the nation`s most populous congressional district ever-and the largest in area outside of Alaska. Illinois, Michigan and Indiana combined don`t take up quite as much room, and they have 50 House seats.

On paper, Williams ought to be far ahead. It was the wind-swept prairies of Marlenee`s eastern Montana that lost population as farmers and ranchers sold out and the little towns where they shopped declined or withered away.

The mountainous west, so attractive to retirees, hunters, fishermen, river-floaters and seekers of the good life, has grown; and this is where Williams has been elected every two years since 1978.

But elections are not held on paper, and both sides say this one is close, with one recent poll putting Marlenee slightly ahead. Both are incumbents, but Williams is part of the House Democratic majority, making it easier for Marlenee to paint him as part of the Washington establishment.

Marlenee has skillfully played this hand. He said Williams belongs to ``a corrupt political process`` and regularly refers to his opponent as part of the House ``leadership,`` although Williams is only one of some 40 assistant Democratic whips.

To add to his troubles, Williams used to be chairman of the subcommittee overseeing grants to the National Endowment for the Arts, and he firmly defended the agency against charges that it funded ``obscene`` art works.

That`s what won him the support of Keillor, who said, ``It`s a measure of the man when he`s courageous when it`s not absolutely required of him.``

But it has inspired the opposition of national conservatives, including Pat Robertson, who referred to Williams as ``Pornography Pat.``

Then there is that resentment. Some of the newcomers who have flocked to Montana haven`t been shy about expressing their opinions. Supporting some environmental activists, actress Glenn Close recently came out against the proposed Montana wilderness bill. TV magnate Ted Turner angered ranchers when he proclaimed cattle inferior to bison, which he is raising on his Gallatin Valley ranch, and annoyed everyone when he announced he won`t permit fishing or hunting on his land.

All this has led some longtime residents to wonder whether the newcomers are trying to take over. Because so many of the newcomers are

environmentalists, the political manifestation of this cultural conflict emerges in the quarrel over wilderness. Ranchers, loggers and miners fear that too much land will be ``locked up,`` threatening not just their jobs but their way of life.

In some logging towns, pickup trucks sport a bumper sticker reading, ``No owl, no wilderness, no Williams.`` There is not a spotted owl within hundreds of miles of Montana, but as former Republican state Chairman Aubyn Curtiss noted, ``When people are up against it economically and philosophically, you get a little aggressive behavior.``

There are now far more environmentalists than loggers in Montana. But loggers have been part of the Democratic base, and Williams can ill afford to lose them.